It was one of those moments that take your breath away and for Cardiff and their supporters provided the perfect end to 2018. The game was deep into stoppage time and heading for stalemate when Víctor Camarasa picked the ball up on the left, about 25 yards from goal, and curled a wonderful shot that arced over the head of Kasper Schmeichel and into the top corner. Cue pandemonium in the away end and wild celebrations among the Cardiff players.

There were 92 minutes on the clock and Cardiff were not going to relinquish their grip on the most precious of victories. It is their first on the road this season, only their third in 29 Premier League away fixtures – the last was back in April 2014 – and lifted Neil Warnock’s side four points clear of the relegation zone.

Camarasa, who has been superb for Cardiff since joining on loan from Real Betis, was the hero but Neil Etheridge deserves just as much credit as the Spaniard after an outstanding display in goal.

Etheridge made a string of impressive saves, including denying James Maddison from the penalty spot in the 74th minute, after Sean Morrison was penalised for tugging the Leicester midfielder’s arm. It was the third time this season that Etheridge has saved a penalty and underlined his importance to a gutsy, resolute and spirited Cardiff team.

Sol Bamba epitomises all of those qualities and was another standout performer in the Cardiff team. Playing against his former club, Bamba made a vital intervention in the first half, after Etheridge had dashed from his line to thwart Jamie Vardy. Bamba then put his body on the line to get to the rebound first when the Cardiff goalkeeper repelled Maddison’s penalty, and later threw himself in the way of another effort, from the substitute Rachid Ghezzal, as Warnock’s side dug in for a point that suddenly became three.

“We’ve bust a few coupons,” Warnock said, beaming. “I thought we deserved to win. If we’d have been precise in the final third we could have scored three or four. It was a really excellent team performance, our best of the season by an absolute mile. We’ve improved so much since the start of the season.”

For Leicester this felt like a classic case of after the Lord Mayor’s show. Excellent victories over Chelsea and Manchester City had eased the pressure on Claude Puel and lifted the mood, but this result was a reality check. Leicester had plenty of possession – 62% to be exact – but struggled to break down opponents who sat deep and defended in numbers, which has become something of a theme under Puel, whose decision to substitute Vardy in the second half went down badly with the Leicester supporters.

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“Frustrated about the result,” said Puel, when asked for his thoughts. “We knew before that it would be a tough game with the tiredness. Also we played a team with another style of play after Chelsea and Man City, a team that played deep with a strong defensive unit, long kicks, second balls and counterattacks. We tried to push until the end. It’s a big disappointment and not a fair result.”

Etheridge’s penalty save felt like the turning point in a game that took a while to come to life. Before that Leicester had plenty of the ball but were largely restricted to shots from distance, apart from when Vardy burst onto Maddison’s pass and Etheridge, dashing from his line, blocked the striker’s shot with his face.

Warnock thought Maddison went down too easily for the penalty but it was a naive challenge for Morrison to make. With Vardy off the pitch, the responsibility fell to Maddison, who recently missed against Manchester City in the Carabao Cup. Etheridge read the Leicester player’s intentions and saved his tame kick. “Neil’s improving all the time,” Warnock added.

Cardiff would probably have settled for a point at that stage but their afternoon was about to get much better, courtesy of Camarasa’s right boot and a goal of the highest quality. “You need to play for a manager that believes in you,” Warnock added. “I just encourage him to shoot whenever he can.”